scott



(No Model? v s Shets-Sheet 1. B. C. SCOTT. MEANS FOR PROPELLING CANALBOATS.

Patented Apr. 24, 1894. Fig.1.

WZ/aevaea:

' W. im

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. B. 0. SCOTT.

MEANS FOR PROPELLING GANAL BOATS. No. 518,680. Patented Apr. 24, 1894.

Fig 5.

(No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet s.

3,0. SGDTT. MEANS FOR PROPBLLING CANAL BOATS. N0. 518,680.- Patentedkpr.24, 1894.

F F D .8 A .B M 0' Milzewas: fzwenzm' NlTE STATES PATENT Fries.

BERTIE CHARLES SCOTT, OF BRUGES, BELGIUM.

MEANS FOR PROPELLI NG CANAL-BOATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 518,680, dated April24, 1894.

Application filed February 21, 1893- Serial No. 463,227. (No model.)Patented in France July 7,1892, No. 222,856,1t11d in Belgium July7,1892, No. 100,411.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, BERTIE CHARLES Soorr, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Bassin, Bruges, in the Kingdom of Belgium, haveinvented new and useful Improved Means for Propelling Canal-Boats orFlats or other Vessels, (for which I have obtained a patent in France,No. 222,856, dated July 7, 1892, and in Belgiu m, No. 100,411, datedJuly 7, 1892,) of which the following is a specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical central section,and Fig. 2 a plan showing myimproved apparatus, constructed with twoingress apertures. situated one at each side of the vessel. Fig. 3 is avertical central section, showing my improved apparatus constructed withone ingress aperture in the bottom of the vessel, the valve in theingress tube being shown in its closed position. Fig. 4. is a verticalcentral section, showing one form of door or sluice-valve for closingthe ingress and egress apertures when necessary. Fig. 5 is a horizontalsection illustrating another modification of my improved apparatus inwhich twin screw-propellers are employed.

The chief object of my invention is to provide improved means forpropelling canalboats or flats and similar vessels of shallow draft, orvessels whose draft varies greatly, say from a few inches to severalfeet.

My said invention consists partly in providing in the stern of the boator vessel, a chamber or tube in which is arranged a screwpropeller andwhich has inclined walls to give the proper direction to the water onits way to and from the propeller, the said propeller being mounted on ashaft which extends through a stuffing-box in one of the said end walls.This chamber is open at its rear end and is connected at its forward endwith one or more tubes through which water can enter in the stern of thevessel.

possible and construct the same in such a manter to very freely enterthe chamber, the

egress end of the said chamber is contracted so that it is justsufficient to permit the discharge of the water without undue resistancewhen the propeller is rotating at its maximum velocity. By making thechamber and ingress tube or tubes as short as is practicable, I avoidunnecessary friction therein and ob viate the carrying of anunnecessarily heavy load of water. And by contracting the egressaperture I insure the discharge of the water in a more solid or compactcolumn than would otherwise be practicable. The egress aperture at therear end of the chamber is made oval or oblong and is so arranged that,even when the boat or vessel is light, the said aperture will be belowthe level of the water. When the ingress apertures are at the sides ofthe boat or vessel, these apertures are also preferably made oval oroblong and are so arranged that they will at all times be below thelevel of the water.

My improvements are also applicable to ordinary sea-going vesselsprovided that the ingress openings are placed so far forward that theywill not be lifted out of the water when the vessel pitches, thusobviating the liability to racing of the engines, as, in the rolling ofthe vessel, one or the other of the ingress openings will always besubmerged.

A is the propeller which is arranged in a chamber B in the stern of thevessel.

0, (J are the ingress tubes.

D is the egress or discharge-tube, the rear end of which is securedaround an opening The passage through the said tube D is, as abovestated, contracted so that it is of just sufiicient transverse sectionalarea to permit the discharge of the water without undue resistance.

I sometimes make the propeller-chamber of a steel cylinder 13 the endsof which fit into annular recesses 19' in the flanges b of twoend-pieces or castings B, B These endpieces are more or less taperedtoward the ingress or egress tubes, and their end surfaces are inclinedas shown to facilitate the flow of the water to and from the propeller,and to avoid the carrying of an unnecessary quantity of water. Theend-piece B carries a suitable bearing B in which the propeller shaft Arotates, the said bearing being made fluid-tight by means of the glandand stuffing-box E. In the said recesses 19 are placed rings 0 ofindia-rubber or other suitable material for the purpose of makingfluid-tight joints, the flanges I) being secured together, with the saidcylinder between them, by means of suitable bolts (1. I can, however,construct the chamber in any other convenient manner.

I provide the openings for the ingress and egress of the water to andfrom the chamber B, with doors or sluice-valves g, Figs. 3 and 4,whereby they may be tightly closed, and I provide a pump for withdrawingthe water from the said chamber when the said openings are closed, so asto permit the inspection of the propeller or the replacing of the sameor of the propeller-shaft while the vessel is in'the water, and also topermit the removal of the chamber if necessary while the vessel is inthe water. Or I can remove the water from the said chamber by admittingor forcing air into the same and thus expelling the water therefrom, thesaid openings being then closed to prevent the entrance of Water.

The valve 9, which is shown more clearly in Fig. 4, is pivoted at g andis provided with an operating lever h sliding on a quadrant h, and witha strip or ring 9 of india-rubber or other suitable material held inplace by a plate 9 which is secured to the body of the valve in suchamanner that it can be readily taken 01f to permit the removal of a wornstrip or ring 9 and the substitution of a new strip or ring therefor.The said strip or ring, when the valve is closed, bears against avalve-seat j. The body of the said valve is loosely secured by a belt orscrew it to the yoke q in such a manner that it will adapt itself to thevalve-seat j when pressed against the same by the water. It is evidentthat, if desired, the strip or ring '9 and plate g may be secured to thevalve-seat instead of to the valve, in which case the said plate must beso shaped as to fit the valve-seat. I connect the end-pieces B, B withthe ingress and egress tubes 0, O, D in such a manner that the chamber Band the said end-pieces B B can be readily detached and removed whennecessary. I

I find it advantageous to mount the engine or motor M for driving thepropeller and also the said chamber B and end-pieces B, B upon a singlebed-plate or base F so that they can be removed together. With thisarrangement, the whole apparatus can, when desired, be at oncetransferred from one boat to another, providing the latter be fittedwith similar tubes, apertures and valves. Several boats can thus beworked by one engine,propeller and chamber; for instance, while someboats are loading and discharging, another can be traveling, and, whenthe latter arrives in port, the valves can be closed and the waterpumped from the chamber and the engine the propeller and the chamber canthen be at once transferred to the loaded boat ready to start, and soon. This is an important feature of the invention and is the main objectin providing the valves in the ingress and egress tubes. A furtheradvantage gained by this arrangement is that, in the event of anyaccident to the engine or propeller such as would necessitate longrepairs, the engine, propeller and chamber can be removed without takingthe boat out of the water and can be replaced by another engine,propeller and chamber, thus avoiding a long detention of the boat.

When the ingress apertures are at the sides of the vessel, I sometimesprovide adjustable tubes in case the boats should vary in beam and otherrespects. The fixed tubes could all be worked up to standardmeasurements, which would be the safest and best arrangement; but, ifdesired, I provide telescopic tubes working through stuffing-boxes orthe like, for the purpose of adjustment where the standard measurementshave not been followed.

In the caseof boats or vessels for use in shallow canals or rivers wherethe vessels cannot be made to draw sufiicient water to cover thescrew-propeller, I combine, with the propeller-chamber, suitable means,such as an air-pump, for drawing the air out of the said chamber from apoint situated at or near its highest part (for example through the cock6) and thus forming a vacuum or partial vacuum therein,so that the waterwithin the said chamber willrise above the level of the water outsidethe vessel, and will consequently cover the screw-propeller. OrI mayclose the valves of the ingress and egress tubes and pump waterinto thesaid chamber, allowing the air to escape at the top of the chamber, as,for instance,through the cock c. This cock is then closed and the valvesof the ingress and egress tubes are opened. The

screw-propeller will, therefore, work efficiently notwithstanding thesmall draft of the vessel, and a larger screw-propeller can be used thanwould otherwise be practicable in a vessel of shallow draft. When thevessel is loaded,the cock e may be opened to allow the air to escape andthe water to enter and cover the screw-propeller in the chamber providedthat the level of the water outside the boat is as high or higher thanthe top of the chamber. The cock e should be in communication with atube the end of which should always be above the level of the water. Itis evident that, when myinvention is applied in this manner, the chamberor tube in which the propeller works must be air-tight when the vesselis in the water.

I sometimes employ, in combinationwith the ingress aperture orapertures, suitable directing or deflecting plates m as shown in I Fig.,5, for the purpose of directing the water into the said chamber in themost effective manner for the propulsion of the vessel. In some cases Iuse a directing or deflecting plate in combination with the egressaperture or apertures.

In some instances, I use propellers of the kind now in common use. Inother instances, I use a propeller having a single blade which extendsnearly or completely around the boss or'hub as shown in Fig. 5. In thiscase I prefer that the internal diameter of the chamber B should be butvery slightly greater than the outside diameter of the propeller, asshown in Fig. 5, and the propeller, in this case, may be of smallerdiameter than would be necessary with propellers such as are ordinarilyemployed. Further, with thiskind of propeller, the air-pump might bedispensed with, as the screw would itself draw in the water required tocover it.

- I sometimes make the chamber B with two egress apertures one on eachside of the sternpost. In someinstancesI arrange twin screwpropellers inthe manner above mentioned, in separate chambers B, as shown in Fig. 5.These chambers are connected with a single egress tube D; or they may beconnected with separate egress apertures. The ingress and egress tubesmay, if desired, be provided with valves or doors as above set forth.

In addition to the advantages above mentioned, my invention affords thefollowing important advantages, viz:--The screw-propeller, when inclosedas above described, does not produce waves like the screw-propellers asusually employed; therefore, when my system of propulsion is used in acanal or river, no damage is done to the banks of the canal or riversuch as is usually occasioned by vessels driven by screw-propellers. Thescrewpropeller in my improved vessel will work efficiently whether thevessel is loaded or light; this is a very important feature in ves selsfor use in shallow waters. Moreover, a

larger propeller can be used in a vessel of shallow draft than can bedone with the system of propulsion hitherto generally adopted; thereforethe speed and the wear and tear of the engines will be reduced Withoutdiminution of the speed of progression. And it is evident that myinvention affords very convenient means for propelling canal boats andthe like by means of steam or other motive power instead of by animalhaulage or for propelling tug-boats for use in canals or rivers.Furthermore my improved boats can, with advantage, be used in place ofthe sternwheel river-steamers now in use.

What I claim is- 1. In an apparatus for the propulsion of canal boats orflats or other vessels, the combination of a propeller chamber havingingress and egress apertures, a propeller working in the said chamber,a, motor for driving the said propeller, and a base or foundation plateon which the said chamber, the propeller and the motor are mounted, andwhich is removable therewith from the boat or vessel for the purposesabove specified.

2. In an apparatus for the propulsion of canal boats or flats or othervessels, the combination of a propeller chamber having ingress andegress apertures, tubesconnecting the said ingress and egress apertureswith the shell of the vessel, valves in the said tubes whereby theingress and egress passages may be closed, a propeller working in saidchamber, a motor for driving the said propeller, and a base orfoundation plate on which the said chamber, the propeller and the motorare mounted, and which is removable therewith from the boat or vessel,substantially as and for the purpose above specified.

3. In an apparatus for the propulsion of canal boats or flats or othervessels, a propeller chamber consisting of a hollow metal cylinder B,end pieces having, inclined walls 15', B and having ingress and egressapertures respectively, packing rings 0 in grooves b in the said endpieces and bearing against the ends of said cylinder, and means forsecuring these said end pieces together, with the said cylinder betweenthem, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

BERTIE CHARLES SCOTT.

Witnesses:

ALBERT G, WEAVER, HENRY WALTER LYNDEN.

